Ma Keqing, Ambassador of China to the Czech Republic
Message from ambassador
Cctv news(Reporter Liu Chunyan) On March 28th, 2016, the Supreme Leader of president paid a state visit to the Czech Republic, which was the first time that China and president paid a state visit to the Czech Republic since the two countries established diplomatic relations 67 years ago, and brought the relations between the two countries into the best period in history. Since the transition of Sino-Czech relations in 2014 for more than three years, the heads of state of China and Czech Republic have met six times, which has led the relationship between the two countries to the fast lane of healthy development and fully demonstrated the unique charm and great role of summit diplomacy.
In October this year, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be held soon. CCTV reporters interviewed Ms. Ma Keqing, Ambassador of China to the Czech Republic, on the development of China-Czech bilateral relations, the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges.
Pragmatic cooperation in the economic and trade field, the people of the two countries feel full.
The Czech Republic actively responded to and supported the Belt and Road Initiative a long time ago, and signed a memorandum of understanding and bilateral cooperation plan with China to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative, becoming one of the first European countries to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Ambassador Ma Keqing said that China and Czech Republic have firmly grasped the window of opportunity and strategic door opened by the "Belt and Road Initiative", constantly strengthened policy communication, promoted air connectivity, promoted the smooth flow of economy and trade, and strengthened people-to-people communication. They have achieved a series of pragmatic cooperation results in the political, economic, trade and humanities fields, which has given the two peoples a real sense of gain.
Ambassador Ma Keqing introduced that for China enterprises, the Czech Republic has a superior geographical position, is located in the center of Europe, and is adjacent to the developed economic circle in Europe. It has a unique geographical advantage and a relatively strong industrial base. The railway, highway, aviation and waterway transportation are convenient, which is conducive to market layout and market liquidity. It has obvious advantages in industry, with strong strength in the fields of automobile, machinery manufacturing and general aviation, and has reached or approached the world advanced level in the fields of nanotechnology, environmental protection, biology and pharmacy. At present, the economies of China and Czech Republic are in the stage of upgrading quality and increasing efficiency, which are highly complementary and have great potential for investment cooperation between the two countries.
Today, the number of China enterprises investing in Czech Republic and Chinese-funded enterprises in Czech Republic has doubled compared with three years ago. In addition to traditional manufacturing industries such as automobiles, machinery, household appliances, and chemicals, more and more China enterprises are exploring and expanding their investments in Czech general aviation, new energy, high-speed rail, e-commerce, tourism, and scientific and technological services, further optimizing their investment structure and enhancing their technical content and added value.
Ambassador Ma Keqing said that the current Sino-Czech economic and trade relations are developing well, bilateral trade is growing steadily, and two-way investment is developing rapidly. In 2016, the total trade volume between China and Czech Republic reached US$ 11 billion, accounting for 20% of the total trade volume between China and 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic continuously maintains China’s position as the second largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe, while China is the largest trading partner of the Czech Republic outside the EU.
On the basis of the memorandum of understanding on the construction of the "Belt and Road", the two-way investment between the two countries has doubled. At present, the stock of Czech investment in China is US$ 1.8 billion, and China has become the most important market for Czech enterprises such as Gitzo and Skoda in the world. China has invested nearly $3 billion in the Czech Republic, nearly 10 times as much as in 2013.
China products have gradually become "online celebrity"
The deepening of economic and trade cooperation has enabled local people to enjoy the convenience and benefits of trade between the two countries.
Ambassador Ma Keqing said that since 2015, Hainan Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines have successively opened three direct flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu to Prague, with 16 flights per week and 22 flights in peak season, making them a busy "air corridor" connecting the two countries.
"In 2016, the number of tourists from China to Czech Republic exceeded 355,000, and it is expected to reach 500,000 this year, double that of two years ago." Ambassador Ma Keqing said, "Yixin Europe, Hanxin Europe and China-Europe trains reach Prague and Paldubice, the Czech capital, and Shentong Express opens all-cargo charter flights from Hong Kong to Prague, and a fast freight transport corridor between the two countries has initially taken shape. At the same time, the two countries are also actively trying to develop e-commerce, open online trading stations, and build ‘ Online Silk Road ’ 。”
Ambassador Ma Keqing said that a steady stream of tourists from China has also promoted the development of Czech commerce, catering and other related industries. China goods can be seen everywhere in the Czech Republic. More and more people in the Czech Republic are familiar with China brands such as Huawei, ZTE and Changhong, and they are increasingly familiar with Hisense, Alibaba and UnionPay. Similarly, China people are familiar with Czech products, and the micro-credit operated by Skoda cars and Gitzo is very popular in China. In the tide of economic globalization, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is showing a good development situation of mutual benefit and complementarity.
Chinese fever, co-filming, and Chinese medicine museum are all in one operation.
Talking about people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, Ambassador Ma Keqing recalled: "The Story of the Mole series of cartoons is a childhood memory of many post-1970s and post-1980s Chinese. Many people took a direct flight back and forth between China and Czech Republic to visit the hometown of Little Mole. In 2015, Zoje co-produced the animated film "Little Panda and Little Mole", as the latest achievement of Sino-Czech film and television cooperation, which made the embarrassing little panda and the cute little mole meet for the first time, further narrowing the distance between the children of the two countries. " Sino-Czech film and television co-productions have continuously produced new achievements. Following the successful filming of film and television works such as Panda and Little Mole and One Place Only We Know, the TV series "The Last Visa" co-produced by the two countries tells the story of China diplomats rescuing Jews during World War II, which has been widely broadcast on mainstream TV stations in China and aroused positive response.
In addition to cartoons and movies, in recent years, the cultural exchanges between China and Czech Republic have been deepening, which has become one of the biggest highlights of Sino-Czech relations.
Ambassador Ma Keqing told reporters that now, the two countries have signed an agreement on mutual recognition of degrees and diplomas in higher education and a memorandum of understanding on scientific and technological research and development, which provides a mechanism guarantee for strengthening educational exchanges and scientific and technological cooperation. The "Happy Spring Festival" temple fair held in Prague for three consecutive years has been well received by the Czech people, with a cumulative audience of more than 100,000 people, becoming a brand of cultural exchange between China and Czech Republic. The Czech people’s interest in today’s China, its history and culture is increasing day by day, and the study of the Belt and Road Initiative and the enthusiasm for learning Chinese are heating up. Ten universities across the country have offered Chinese majors or Chinese credit courses, more than 30 primary and secondary schools have offered Chinese elective courses, various Confucius classrooms and "China Center" have sprung up one after another, and the Facebook WeChat official account opened by the China Embassy has nearly 20,000 local fans in the Czech Republic.
Traditional Chinese medicine has a high reputation and recognition in Czech Republic. The first Chinese medicine center supported by the government in Central and Eastern Europe has settled in Czech Hradec Hospital, and Chinese medicine clinics of different sizes are spread all over Czech States. Not long ago, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Czech Parliament formally passed the legislation that is conducive to the development of Chinese medicine in the Czech Republic, and won the first place in the EU countries.
With the deepening of exchanges between the two countries, China is gradually becoming a close-by cultural exchange partner for the Czech Republic from a distant country with a heavy history and profound culture, which is particularly difficult to use words.
Expect deeper communication and understanding.
Ambassador Ma Keqing said in an interview that the Czech Republic is an important partner of China in Central and Eastern Europe and an important country along the Belt and Road Initiative. At present, the "Belt and Road" jointly established by China and Czech Republic has made a good start, strong momentum and remarkable achievements, which fully embodies the spirit of openness, tolerance, mutual learning and mutual benefit and win-win of the "Belt and Road" initiative. At the same time, the Czech government actively supports and participates in the "16+1 Cooperation" between China and Central and Eastern Europe, and is at the forefront of Central and Eastern European countries in promoting health, local and general aviation cooperation. Relevant departments of the two sides also signed cooperation agreements on strengthening tourism infrastructure, industrial parks, civil aviation and financial supervision. The Czech Republic also aims to make it an aviation, logistics hub and financial center for cooperation with China in Central and Eastern Europe.
"Of course, we must also see that China and Czech Republic have different national conditions and systems, different cultures and historical traditions, and their mutual understanding is not deep enough. In particular, the Czech Republic does not understand China on some issues, and even has doubts and misunderstandings. It is a long way to go to promote the communication between the two peoples." Ambassador Ma Keqing said, "I sincerely hope that in the future, China and Czech Republic can further enhance mutual trust in politics and win-win cooperation in economy, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning in the humanities field, enrich and expand the connotation of strategic partnership, and consolidate the public opinion foundation and social foundation of traditional friendly relations between the two countries."
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